A/N-This whole fic is dedicated to all my fanfic buds who bother 2
review(including Moonchild for reviewing my Kim Possible fic and to The One
And Only Trey 4 reviewing this fic and answering my e-mails). I luv u all
and i am happy my fics dont' suck. I have a couple on Fictionpress.net, but
no one has reviewed any. Well, actualy, i lied. Someone reviewed my The
Groups At School and Zero fic. I hope ya'll luv me enough to read them. i
don't care if u don't. well, thanx for reading my fics, ya'll! (I am
currently workin on a Sailor Moon\Kim Possible fic and a plain KP fic, 2.)-
ZeroZeroni
____________________________________________________________________________
__________
5. Is Fear A Factor For U?
Some of the former D-Tent boys were split up. Magnet, Zigzag, and X-ray were sent to Stan and Zero's cabin(Root Water cabin) and the others were sent to some other cabin(some other cabin). There were only a few vacant beds left. Magnet and X-ray shared one, and Zigzag had his own, but he slept on top anyway. Vixen couldn't sleep that night. She stared at the white paintd ceiling with her arms under her head. She sighed heavily. She couldn't stop thinking about her encounter with the poppy earlier that day. She didn't know how, but some how she knew she couldn't touch that orange flower. She had no idea why she had freaked out when Zigzag had offered her a poppy. She didn't even know it could hurt her until then. She looked at the back of her hand where the poppy had made contact. It was a pretty harsh burn. Kinda like if u put salt on your arm and put an icy cube on top of it and it burns u. She poked it. It stung like a stove burn. But it itched at the same time. She wanted to itch it, but it would hurt. She didn't want it to hurt. Duh. Hurting hurts! Vixen then thought back to what happened after the incident with the poppy. She thought of the way she had flipped out and yelled at Zigzag. She didn't know why she did it. She was mad for some reason. It's like, she knew it wasn't his fault. Like he said, he didn't put acid on them. Her words rang harshly in her head, over and over. "Leave me alone! I have no interest in wanting to know who you are! So leave me alone! Please!" Maybe they weren't her exact words, but ther were scolding enough. She felt a wave of uncomfort. She usualy never did anything like that. And she did it to someone she didn't even know. And it was a boy, too! She hadn't had a male friend in a long time. She thought for a moment and she decided maybe she shoule try to be friends with one of these people. Maybe with Stan, or Zero, or maybe the group of new boys they just met. And she knew she'd have to say sorry to Zigzag. She had been really rude. Or maybe...maybe she wouldn't do anything. She seemed to get more attention that way. She decided she would't say anything.
The next morning, they all filed toward the Wreck Hall for routine. They, once again, showed the new kids what to do(But Mr. Cox picked a different campr than Tomcat or Vixen!). After they all did that stuff, Mr. Cox blew a high-toned whistle. "Okay, I have an anouncment to make," he said. "You will all be tested. Tested on how you can handle fear. Terror. Horror. And, after seeing what happened yesterday between a new camper and a rather silent local--" he glanced at Zigzag then to Vixen--"I pretty sure you all will be as scared as a kitten is od water. Good luck, I guess. Especially to the newbies," he added. After Mr. Cox's anouncments, they all went out to dig on the Holy Plain. As they dug in thier assigned holes, Stan, who was next to Vixen, happened to glance over. He saw, on her right hand, a pretty bad burn. He couldn't think of anything she could've gotten burnt by. He was snapped out of thought by a voice calling, "Loopy!" It was Vee. He wondered who Loopy was. Then he remembered. Brenda had told him while they were sneaking food that Loopy was her nickname. Stan forgot everyone but Vixen had one. Brenda, or Loopy, looked up from digging. "huh? What do u want, Vee?" she said. Vee motioned for her to go over to her. Loopy sighed and dropped her shovel and went over to Vee. Stan went back to digging. Digging on Stan's opposite side was Queen. Next to Queen was Magnet. On Vixen's opposite side was Zigzag, who was next to Rainy, who was next to X-ray. Stan looked back at Vee(next to Magnet), who was whipsering with Loopy. He saw Loopy point to him. He wondered what she was saying. She was probebly telling Vee he was a complete idiot. That's what he thought. Bout twenty minutes from when they started, almost simaltanously, Zero, Vee, and Vixen all said 'Ow!" and dropped thier shovels. Vee's right hand was bleeding again. Vixen saw blood seep from her left hand. Both of Zero's hands were bleeding. Zero still was shaken by that, so he hastily wiped his hands on hsi pants, let them bleed, wiped them, let them bleed, and wiped them again. vixen spit on her hand and then wiped it on the inside of her uniform skirt pocket. Vee waved her hand in the air, whinig because it wouldn't stop. Sometimes she was stupid like that. Then it stopped.
About two hours later, the holes were either five feet deep or finished. Zero had finished about an hour before, but he dawdled on the Holy Plain, waiting for someone he knew to get done so he could talk to someone. He walked between Zigzag, who was almost done, and Vixen's hole. Her shovel was still sticking out of it. Zero thought that was strange, on account of when he had accidently left his shovel in the hole, Vixen had scolded him and told him to put it away. So why would she leave hers out? She went to the edge of the hole and looked inside. He saw what he didn't want to. Vixen was sitting on the bottom of the dirty hole, her head leaning on her shoulder, her eyes closed, and she was sorta red. Zero jumped in the hole and, despite he had kncoked the shove's hard shaft on his head, he recovered and tried to shake Vixen awake. She didn't do anything. "Vixen. Vixen, get up," he said. She twitched. Then her eyes opened. She was slow at first, but when she saw someone holding her by the shoulders and shaking her, she jumped in surprise and screamed shortly. "Get away, get away!" she ordered, standing up and pushing Zero. He tripped on the shovel and fell backward. "What do you think you were doing?" spat Vixen. "You were unconcious!" said Zero. "So? Leave me that way!" she said. "The sun woulda cooked u," said Zero. "Well, next time send a conselour to help me. I don't like people I don't know," she said. "If you would give people a chance, and maybe talk to them, you wouldn't not know them anymore!" said Zero. Vixen felt a wave of anger and confusion hit her suddenly. What did this kid know about not having friends? Looked like he had plenty of friends! He knew the whole new bus load of boys! What did he know about what she'd been through? She didn't have a mother, a father, and she slept in a phone booth for eight nights streight. She was mad. MAd that he could act like he understood and wanna help her and get to know her. Before she knew what she was doing, She had raised her left hand high above her. She broguht it down toward Zero's head and made contact with a sickening sound. He had just stood uo, but the imapct sent him down again. Vixne stood there in horror. She didnt know why she had just hit him. Zigzag had heard a strange sound from the hole next to his. He had finished, so he'd see what it was. He remembered Zero had jumped in it. Zero was on the ground, and fading in and out of conciousness. Vixen didn't know she hit that hard. But then again, her anger had always boosted her stregth enough so she could probebly knock out Stone Cold with one smack. Zero blinked his watering eyes a couple times to get focus. Then he was able to stand. He just looked at her. Vixen got the chills. his eyes were dark, expanding, and penetrating. They made her feel guilty. Which made her feel hurt. Which made her feel angry. She raised her ahnd for another attack. Zero slightly recoiled adn put his hands up, waiting for the hit. But it never came. He put his hands down and looked up. Vixen never managed to get near him. Zigzag was standing behind her, and he had grabbed her hand before she brought it down. "Hey! Lemme go!" she said. She stomped down hard on Zigzag's foot. he yelped and let go. She dropped her hand to her side. She glared at Zero, who was cowering, then she glared at Zigzag. Then she left. Zero caught a glance at her left hand. Dried blood was smeared on it. He felt his head to make sure she hadn't made him bleed, but it had definatly come from her hand. But there was no cut. It was just like what happened to him.
Mr. Terrance walked into the Root Water cabin. Blacky was trying to blow a bigger bubble-gum bubble than Rainy, Vee was keeping herself busy by using a ruler to measure anything she could find(so far, she had measured the lenght of X-ray's glasses, the length of the ladder on the bed, she tried to measure the wall, and she measured the length of Queen's shoe). Zero was having a staring contest with both Loopy and Stan, Magnet was helping Vee measure stuff. Vixen was just sitting there on her top bunk, staring blankly off into space with glazed eyes and a 'duh' expression. Zigzag was sleeping. "Attention please," he said. No one listened. And Zigzag didn't wake up. "I said, ATTENTION!" boomed Mr. Terrance. Blacky and Rainy's bubbles popped all over thier faces. Magnet and Vee stopped measuring. Zero, Loopy, and Stan blinked. Vixen snapped back into reality. Zigzag flinched and squinted his sleepy eyes. "All of you will be sent to a place in the woods. You will stay close. Your counselor Miss Brandy and I will lead you to a big, big lake. Then, you will proceed to folow our instructions. Be ready in an hour and meet us and the other campers on the Holy Plain. See you then," he said, then he turned and left the cabin. As soon as he was out of range, they all groaned in annoyance and things like 'do we have to?' and 'this sucks' could be heard. "Come on," said Loopy. She blinked hard a few times. Her eyes felt like rubber. They had been staring for a long time. "Fine," said Blacky. "I wasn't talkin to you! You are a sicko perv, you know that?!" said Loopy. "And proud of it!" he said. "Uck," said Loopy and Vee as one. Vixen rubbed her head. She was really deep in thought. She shrugged and jumped down off her bunk. She wasn't watching where she was walking, and she nearly ran into Zero. "Sorry," she said flatly. Then she realized who it was. She gave him a sharp glare at first, then turned the other way.
She crawled onto Vee's bunk and looked in her covers for something. She couldn't find it. She looked up and saw that Zigzag had woke up, but then fell back to sleep again. He was in the bunk next to hers, but he was on top. She picked up Vee's baseball and climbed the ladder to her bunk. Then she threw the ball at him. It hit him in the back of his head. He yawned and turned over. "Whothrewthat?" he slurred. "idiot," mumbled Vixen. Zigzag sat up and hit his head on the low ceiling and then he fell back onto his pillow. Vixen snickered at his stupidity. "Ouch," he said, though he had little enthusiasm, because he said it in a yawn. Vixen climbed down the ladder this time. She didn't wanna land on anyone. Rainy looked at Zigzag. She hated slackers. There wasn't no way she was lettin him doze off again. If they were gonna go 2 the lake in the woods, he was too. She picked up her pillow and took an Evian(rich people water!) water bottle from under it. The bunks were so close she could crawl from hers to the one next to hers, and so on. She crawled to his and unscrewed the bottle cap. She took one last sip and swallowed. Then she looked at the bottle, shrugged, and threw the rest of the water on him. he shot bolt upright, smacked his head on hers(she had been hovering over him, waiting for the reaction) with a sickening 'thunk' sound, and both of them fell back. Even though it was a co-ed cabin, the obviously had seperate dressing rooms. They were aloud to wear whatever thay had that day. Queen came out wearing a shiny blue T-shirt with red shorts. She wore a red and black French scarf around her neck(i have one just like it), and black Nike sandles. And lets not forget her shades. her hair was pulled back. Vee came out wearing a viser hat that was on backwards and upside down, sunglasses, a white Tee and black shorts. Vixen wore a really confusing T-shirt. It had rows of verticle black lines and a big black hypno wheel cirlce in the middle. And the empty spaces were white. She wore black shorts. Loopy wore a red Tee and blue jean shorts. the boys just wore boy stuff, and so did Rainy. Rainy was a tomboy.
They all met the other cabins on the Holy Plain. The former D-Tent boys all met up for the time they could. Vixen and Vee stood together with Loopy. Vixen glanced over toward the D-Tent boys. She could see that Zigzag was telling them that she had hit him with a baseball. She turned her head, then looked back at them. She saw Zigzag coming toward them, followed by X-ray. "Oh man," she groaned. "What?" said Vee. She jabbed her thumb toward the two boys. "So? What's so bad about them?" said Vee. "uck," said Vixen. Vixen was turned to Vee, acting like she didn't see them coming. Zigzag walked up behind her, glanced at her, took one step forward, then suddenly turned around sharply and tried to walk away, but X-ray grabbed him by the shoulders. He shook him vigorously, mouthed something to him, turned him back around, then pushed him into Vixen. Vixen stumbled, but regained her balance. She turned around. "What do u want?" said she spat. "I uh..." he looked behind him. Then he looked back. "Okay, listen. Vixen, I was only trying to be nice when I met you. I didn't mean to--" he was cut off by Mr. Terrance coming out onto the Holy Plain. A black woman(the actress who plays Whitney Russel on Passions) followed behind him. "Okay! You will each be paired in twos. But only with people from your cabins. Okay! We will go through the Root Water cabin first," said Mr. Terrance. He looked at his clip board and crossed names off as he called them. "Blacky, you will be paired with...your sister, Rainy." "Of course," said Rainy flatly. Her and Blacky stood off to the side together where Mr. Terrance motioned for them to go. "Okay. Vee, you will be paired with...Magnet," he said. "Okay," she said. She left Loopy and stood off to the side with Magnet. "Loopy, you will be with Stan." "yay!" Loopy said to herself. Stan shrugged and wlked over to the side with loopy. "Zero, you will be with Queen." They walked to the side without saying anything. "X-ray, you will be with Mayflower," he said. X-ray looked around. He didn't know a Mayflower. A pretty blonde stepped up out of a crowd of popular-looking bad girls. He and Mayflower went off to the side. "And last but not least, Vixen you will be with...Zigzag." "Great," said Vixen flatly. Zigzag looked at the ground. He knew Vixen didn't wanna be his partner. But maybe this could be his chance to say sorry and then maybe they could be friends. It had been a long time since he had a female friend. "Okay, all of you who have been paired already, follow Miss Brandy into the forest. The rest of you will follow me in a moment." "Come on," snapped Vixen. She stomped past Zigzag and followed Miss Brandy.
They all went into the forest. It was dark and smelly. Toward the middle of the forest, they came upon a humongous lake. Miss Brandy stood on the edge of it and faced the group of the Root Water cabin. "Hello. My name is Miss Brandy. Today I will be testing you. I will test you will ro survive, you wits, your abilities, and your willingness to put up with your partner. This won't be like one of those little school trips. I will be spliting you all up. I will tie a blindfold around each of your eyes. I will take each pair wand while the rest of u wait here, i will lead them deeper into the forest. I will then leave u to venge for yourselves. But, due to highly advanced equpment, I can make sur you won't be harmed. And I will know where u r. if u get to far away, i will track u down and bring u back. Your goal is to make it back to the lake before sun down. Whovere succeeds will receive an entire week off from digging and will get extra food, too." Miss Brandy walked back and forth in front of the campers. She then stopped in front of Stan and Loopy. "You two. You will be the first to be led astray." Loopy and Stan exchanged glances of worry. Miss Brandy took a bandana out of her pocket. She pushed Stan and Loopy close together and tied it around both of thier heads at once. Thier eyes were sheilded from outside life. She took Stan's hand and told him to hold Loopy's just in case the bandana came off. She didn't want them to get seperated. "All of you, wait here. if any one of you thinks about leaving, I'll make sure you get triple digging duty," she warned. Then she led Loopy and Stan away. "I'm thinkin' about it!" said Blacky when she was out of earshot range. Vixen looked over at her sister. She and Magnet were comapring who stole better things, trying to top each other. Zero was just standing there, allowing himself to be verbaly abused by Queen. She was saying something about them not being in the same social ranking and she hated being seen with him. But out of everyone who was dissapointed with thier partner, Vixen was the most pissed off. She knew she sould try to be nice, but she just didn't like Zigzag. She knew he just wanted to be friends. But she wasn't used to having friends. Her only friend for a while was just a bracelet and necklace set. There was a silver chain on each. With a pure gold charm on each. The charms were praying hands. Like the kinds u see on pins. But these ones were passed down in her family fom a hundred and ten years ago and farther. They belonged to her many great grandfather(2 many greats to mention). He was royalty. And so were the charms. But she had to sell them. So that she could live. You'll hear more about that later. She sat in the springy, moist grass in front of the lake. She peered at her reflection. She saw Zigzag come up from behind her. She didn't care. Let him stand there. She had nothing to say to him. She was thinking of her life in the past. When she was small and life was good. Memories of her and her twin sister flooded her mind. "Hi Vixen," said Zigzag. She didn't answer him. He didn't care. "Look, Vixen, I am sorry. Really. I didn't know that poppies would hurt you. And I didn't mean to drop one on you. I just-- " "Could ya shut up!?" shouted Vixen, startling Zigzag. Everyone arounf them got quiet. "Look! I don't like you! I don't care what your first intentons were! i don't care what they are now! And after this test, I honestly never wanna talk to you again! Do you get me!? Or must I repeat it once more to get it through that thick head of yours!?! Do you understand me, I am asking!?" Her face was reddened with anger and sorrow from her thoughts. She huffed and puffed in rage. Zigzag's eyes were huge and horrified, then they were filled with hurt. He looked at the ground. "Yeah," he said, sounding rejected. "I get it." He turned and walked away, hurt. The talking resumed after a moment. Now, the anger and sorrow dissolved. They turned into guilt. She had lunged and killed Zigzag's good intentions and spirit. Why the heck was she like this? X-ray told Mayflower he'de be right back and went over to where Zizag was leaning on a tree. "Hey man," he said. "Hey," said Zigzag. "I tried to be nice. It didn't work. All becasue of stupid poppies!" he said. "Okay, it isn't the little orange flower's fault," said X-ray. "I know. I'm not blaming the poppies," he said. I just don't get along with her. It's like she wants to just be isolated from everyone all the time." X-ray thought a moment. "Why do you care what this girl thinks anyway? She's just some other stupid person. She's probeblt in here for stealing hair products and make-up," he said. Then it hit him. "Oh, I c what's goin' on here," he said with a slight smirk. "Huh? What do you mean?" said Zigzag. "U know exactly what I mean," he said. "Know, it isn't like that--" "Well then what is it?" he said. Zigzag blinked. "Well, i dunno. But it isn't that," he added quickly, seeing X-ray's expression. "Mmm-Hmm," said X-ray, not believing him. "I am serious!" said Zigzag, turning red. He was becoming irritated. "Prove it, lover boy," said X-ray. "Fine! I won't be nice to her any more! I'll leave her alone! After this test, I will ignore her, and her me." Miss Brandy came back without Stan and Loopy. "I just remembered one thing," she said brightly. "When you each return to the lake and myself, you must give me a report. You will tell me if your partner was one: calm. Two: good team helper. Three: Not horrified. And four: Not klutzy. If your partnr says you fail these, then you will be sentanced to kitchen duty, and digging six holes for one day with no breaks. Have fun!" she said with a smile. She then ordered them to return to thier partner if they had seperated. Zigzag reluctantly walked to Vixen, and X-ray rejoined Mayflower. She walked back and forth the way she had done the first time. Then she stopped in front of them and pointed to Vixen and Zigzag. "You two. Come." she took the blindfold she used for Stan and Loopy and used it on them. She then took Vixen's hand and suggested she take Zigzag's. But she refused. He would have refused her, too.
When Zigzag and Vixen's eyes once again seen the dim light of day in the damp woods, they were in an unfamiliar place. "Where are we?" said Vixen. "If I told you, there wouldn't be a point to all this, would there?" said Miss Brandy. "Now, be back at the lake before or at sun down. If you aren't back, I'll come get you. I'll know where you are all the time. I just can't see your actions." Miss Brandy bid them goodluck, handed them one canteen and one Evian(rich peeple water again!) and left. "Now what do we do?" said Zigzag. "I'm not sure. But it looks really confusing in here," said Vixen. She sounded worried. "This is not going to be easy," said Zigzag, sounding shaky. ____________________________________________________________________________ __________
____________________________________________________________________________ __________
6. Fear Is Not A Factor For Us(focuses mainly on a mystic occurance)
They had been trying to get back to the lake for a good hour. Zigzag and Vixen hadn't spoken since Miss Brandy left them alone together. Meanwhile, back at the campsite, Miss Brandy, Mr. Cox, Mr. Terrance and the woman who followed him around were all in the counselor's cabin. Miss Brandy and Mr. Terrance were controling the equipment. Mr. Cox was a little fidgety. "We'll get caught. There's gonna be an inestigation, Jo," he said to the woman. "No there won't, Perry!(he has the same name as the Scrubs Dr. Cox) I've made sure of that," she said. "Jo Anne!" said Miss Brandy suddenly. "Come here. Is this right?" she said. Jo Anne(Karen) walked over to the computer screen. "Is what right, Evet?" asked Jo Anne. Evet pointed to the screen. "Is it right? Is it okay that I paired them up with different people than each other?" she said. "Like, I paired Hector with Tammy. And I paired Veronica with Jose`. And I paired the most crucial one, Vixen, with Ricky. Is that okay?" she asked. Jo Anne shrugged. "I don't see why not. We'll just have to--did u say Vixen was the most crucial? No. No, no, no, no, no, no. They are all crucail. Together, the three of them can create a force more powerful than any technology you can make. They can destroy our plans to get to what we need before we can get to it. Under this very peice of land lies a legendary portal. A supernatural door to another realm. A realm that can lead to the past, the future, then back to the present again. Legend also says that is also a doorway between our world and the spirit one. Heaven. It's the thin line between life and death. If we open it, we can go into the past and take over. We can rule. But the Zeroni family powers can demolish our hopes. So, we must get rid of them." "And the kids they are partnered with? Won't they become suspicious that three of thier friends, two are twins, die all at the same time?" asked Mr. Cox. "No," she said. "Because we'll just kill them, too. So, the death toll will be for Queen Tammy, Magnet Jose`, Zigzag Ricky, Vee Veronica, Vixen, and Zero Hector Zeroni."
Vixen felt light headed and dizzy. She had been thinking hard and the heat was making her sick. She grabbed Zigzag's arm, half to get his attention, half to support her from falling over. "I gotta sit down." She knew she had sun poisoning. She'd had it for a while now. And it was kicking in again. "Try to keep going. I don't wanna day of six holes," said Zigzag, not showing any scrap of consideration for Vixen's condition. He was sick of being nice to her just so he could be burned. "No, Zigzag, I can't," she said. He heard that her voice sounded panty, exhausted, and out of breath. He didn't beleive she was really sick. But when he didn't hear rustling behind him, he turned around to see where she was. He gasped and dropped to the ground beside her. Vixen was on her knees, her head hung over, and her arms hanging. "Vixen, are you okay?" he said. She looked up at him. Her face was sweaty and red. She was really tired. "Come on. Get up," said Zigzag. He helped her up. "Can you walk at all?" She nodded, though she was unsure. They started walking again, then Zigzag heard a soft sigh and a thud behind him.
"Look here!" said Evet. "Hm?" Jo Anne looked over Evet's shoulder at the screen. "Vixen's passed out. But...why?" she asked. "She has an illness(if u ever seen Digimon, the first season, it's like what happened to Kari when they were lookin for the Dark Masters. But its a little different). Being in the sun too long hurts her. I've been trying to finish her off by making her dig for kids who were still asleep, eating, or sick," said Mr. Terrance. "But, if she dies like that, what about Ricky? Don't you think he'd tell someone when he gets out?" said Mr. Cox. "No. He'll die the same way. We just gotta...turn up the heat," said Jo Anne. She reached over to a knob that was flat on tip, like a stereo volume. She turned it from 'hot' to 'sizzling.'
"Ow! I think I broke my nail!" cried Queen. "Ack! I'm bleeding now! Do you have a band-aid?" she asked. "It isn't like I carry them around with me," said Zero. "Your cold, man," said Queen, sucking her finger. "I wish I were," he said. "I know. It is so frickin' hot in this forest," said Queen. Zero looked upward. he couldn't see the sky. The tree tops were so bushy, the sun and sky were completely blocked out. "Zero?" Queen turned around to see him looking at the sky. "What the heck are you doin'?" she said. "Do you see that?" he said. "See what?" He pointed to a tree top. Queen looked at where he was pointing. "I don't see nothin'," she said. "There. That little blinking red dot," said Zero. "Oh crap!" said Evet. "That Hector kid spotted the camera!" "Hide it!" said Mr. Terrance. The camera sucked into the tree's leaves. "It's gone now," said Zero. "I didn't see it to begin with," said Queen. "Maybe the heat is makin u delirious," she suggested. Zero shut his eyes tight then opened them again, looking for the blinking dot. "Maybe," he said. Queen took a drink from the Evian. She swallowed and turned back to him. "Zero? Zero, are you okay?" He was holding his head and he was teetering back and forth slightly. "I'm fine," he lied. He felt horrible. "Well, come on. We gotta get to the lake before sun down," said Queen. Zero's eyes went out of focus. He saw two of Queen. He tried to walk forward, and he stumbled, but he caught his balance. Then he heard it. "AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!" "Queen!" he didn't care if he couldn't see what he was doing. He just knew he couldn't see Queen any more and the forest around him was spinning insanly. He bolted toward the direction of Queen's shriek. When he stumbled to where she was, she was standing in horror, looking at the ground. "Queen! Are you hurt? Are you okay?" he said, panting and trying to regain his vision. "No. I'm fine. A snake just slithered across my foot. And I'm wearin sandles, so i touched it!" Zero sighed. He just risked running head-on into a tree to hear Queen complain some more. "Zero, are you okay? Why do you keep blinking?" asked Queen. "I can't see. I san't see anything!" said Zero. "I'm blind!!!" "Blind?" said Queen. "Zero, watch out!" "How can I watch? I'm blind!!!" He tried to go forward and he ran into Queen, and they fell over. "Could ya get off me?" said Queen. "Queen?" "Yes, Zero?" "I think I'm blind," he said. She sighed heavily and annoyed. Zero stood up. All he could see was a faint greenish blur. "Follow me- -oops. Here, I got an idea," said Queen. She picked up a vine and handed Zero the end of it. "Just go where the vine leady you. I'll guide you." "Okay, fine. But don't leave me stranded somewhere," he said.
"Great. Now he can't see. And Tammy's leadin him to safety! Good job of exterminating Hector," said Evet to Jo Anne. "Don't you talk to me like that! And besides, I think we got one down. It looks like Veronica is going crazy."
Magnet and Vee were walking through a muddy area. He was becoming rather annoyed because of Vee. She was walking behind him, singing at the top of her lungs. "LOSE YOURSELF IN THE MUSIC, THE MOMENT, U OWN IT, U BETTER NEVER LET IT GO! THIS IS UR ONE SHOT, SO DON'T MISS--" "Vee!!! Shut up!" he snapped. "Blah blah blah. That's all i hear comin from u," she said. Well, actualy, she slurred it. She sounded drunk. "Are you on some kind of medication?" he said. "Look, Magnet! FLOWERS!" Vee dropped to her knees and made a splat sound in the mud. She picked up a purple flower and sniffed it. "Let's go find more flowers!" she said dazedly. "How about no!" said Magnet. "Yes!" she barked. "No," he said stubbornly. She stood up. "Yeeeeeesss," she said slowly. "Noooooo," he said slowly. He turned around and said, "So there." Vee hung her head then, out of no where, socked him in the back of his head. He fell back ward on the ground, and when his vision came into focus, he saw Vee. She was standing over him with a stern look. "Yes. So there," she said as if to say "discussion over. We are gettin more flowers."
"Ow. Ow. Ow! Queen!" "Sorry!" Queen kept leading Zero into trees. He wasn't sure if she was doing it on purpose or if it was really an accident. He voted for the first one. "Come on, Zero," she said. "Hey, did u forget? I'm blind!" "Temporarily! Don't you forget that!" she spat. They walked for about two hours. Then Zero felt something icy that went to the top of his socks. "What are we standing in?" he said. "Oh, just some muddy water. Don't worry, though. It doesn't look that deep." "Oh, thanks for those assuring words, Queen," said Zero. "No prob," she said, missing the sarcasm. Then, the water rose up to thier waists. "I thought you said it wasn't very deep," said Zero. "I didn't think it was this deep," she said. Suddenlt, Zero jerked to the side and fell over. His vision returned in a second flat. But he was overwhelmed with a sharp pain. It ran down through his head into his lungs and stabbed at his heart. He tried to breath, but no air came. he was suffocating. "Zero!" Queen had taken a wrong step and had plunged under extremely deep water. The reason Zero couldn't get air is cuz when he fell, he fell into water and it covered his head and he couldn't get air. So, Zero couldn't help Queen cuz he wa 'drowning,' and Queen couldn't help Zero cuz she was drowning.
Vixen had regained conciousness and was now walking side by side with Zigzag. "hey, did you hear that?" he said. "Hear what?" they stopped and looked around. "Woah!" said Vixen. The trees around them became a dark, blood color. The leaves and the mud, and the grass did, too. Everything around them except a tiny flowing creek had turned blood colored. Zigzag looked at the creek. The fish in it were dark blood colored, but the water around them was a dark, royal blue. "Vixen, look at this," he said. when she didn't answer, he turned to her. "What in the world--" Vixen stood stiff, her arms out, and her eyes stern and glazed. She looked like she was in a trance. Her eyes glowed a lavender color.
"Vee? What is happening?" said Magnet. Vee stood the same way that Vixen did. She was all stiff and trance-like. Her eyes glowed an electric-blue color.
Zero somehow was able to breath. His pain vanished. He stood up slowly, his hair was dripping and wet. He spit out some water and blinked mud out of his dark eyes. When he opened his eyes, the were glowing a shiny bright red. "Tammy? Where are you?" he couldn't see her. He walked toward the water she had fallen under. It was about eight times as deep as Zero was tall. He somehow knew where the deep area started, and he stood exactly on the edge. He raised one hand over the water. Vixen held out one hand in front of her, over the stopped-in-time creek. Vee held her hand out over a muddy puddle and a colored red used-to- be fushia flower. Vee took a breath and spoke in a mono-tone voice. "Help the helpless with just one, but the task is not yet done." Vixen spoke in the same eerie way. "Stop a tragedy with just two, we need just one more, but who?" Zero's red eyes flashed and he took a deep breath and released it. he focused all of his energy toward the deep pond. He then spoke in the same voice the other two did. "You need three to raise the dead, you'll know it because the colors you'll see will be blue and bloody red."
The little creek in front of Vixen bubbled. A mini-whirlpool spun and a blood colored fish rose up to her and like it was magnetic. On the fishes side was a deep cut. The fish had been dead. Now, it wriggled in the air, gasping in search of moisture. It was living now. The little flower that was in the mud followed an invisible line to Vee's hand. It had been squished under Magnet's shoe. Now it was propped up again in the air. It was living now. Zero squinted. Vixen and Vee had brought tiny things back to life. He was left to bring a girl to life. His hand rose higher, trying hard to bring her to the surface. A body rose from the water and the water washed off of it. It was Queen. Her ponytail hung along with her arms and legs. She was levitated by Zero away from the deep end and set down in water that wasn't even an inch deep.
The forest around them turned back to normal. Life began again. Birds chirped and flies buzzed. Zigzag stood staring at Vixen with wide eyes. She had just caused that. And she borught a dead thing back to life. her eyes cleared and returned to normal. She then turned to him. "That was scary," he said sounding shaken. "Wel," she said,"Fear is not a factor for me."
Vee returned to normal, and before the flower dropped, she grabbed it and sniffed it. "What...was that?" said Magnet. "I'm not sure. But it was cool," she said. "It was freaky," he said. "Well, freaky things and fear is not a factor for me."
Zero fell to his knees beside her. He shook her and she didn't wake up. he didn't know how he brought her up, why he had recited a strange poem, and what happened at all. But he just wanted to make sure it wasn't done in vain. Queen groaned lightly and opened her eyes. She blinked to get water out of them. She smiled when she saw Zero, then she coughed up water. She spit it on him. "Hm. Thank you for that," he said. She laughed. "I can't believe you swam under the water and saved me," she said. "Huh?" Queen didn't remember floating in thin air thanks to some magic force. "Oh, uh, yeah. well, I didn't want you to drown." She smiled. "Well, I see fear is not a factor for you. And it isn't for me, either." ____________________________________________________________________________ __________
Oooh! Cliff hanger! What do u think that was all about? Was it the forces of nature, was it the legendary Door of Realms power? Or was it the power that runs through the Zeroni family bloodline? And if it was, then how come Vixen and Vee went all trancey, too? Will Vixen acualy start to trust Zigzag in the next chapter? Will Queen stop bein prissy? Will a relationship develop between Stan and Loopy? Will I ever quit asking these stupid question!? Find out in the next double chapter! I don't think it'll be as long. Thatnx for readin my extremely long dubble-chappy! Buh-bye 4 now!-ZeroZeroni
5. Is Fear A Factor For U?
Some of the former D-Tent boys were split up. Magnet, Zigzag, and X-ray were sent to Stan and Zero's cabin(Root Water cabin) and the others were sent to some other cabin(some other cabin). There were only a few vacant beds left. Magnet and X-ray shared one, and Zigzag had his own, but he slept on top anyway. Vixen couldn't sleep that night. She stared at the white paintd ceiling with her arms under her head. She sighed heavily. She couldn't stop thinking about her encounter with the poppy earlier that day. She didn't know how, but some how she knew she couldn't touch that orange flower. She had no idea why she had freaked out when Zigzag had offered her a poppy. She didn't even know it could hurt her until then. She looked at the back of her hand where the poppy had made contact. It was a pretty harsh burn. Kinda like if u put salt on your arm and put an icy cube on top of it and it burns u. She poked it. It stung like a stove burn. But it itched at the same time. She wanted to itch it, but it would hurt. She didn't want it to hurt. Duh. Hurting hurts! Vixen then thought back to what happened after the incident with the poppy. She thought of the way she had flipped out and yelled at Zigzag. She didn't know why she did it. She was mad for some reason. It's like, she knew it wasn't his fault. Like he said, he didn't put acid on them. Her words rang harshly in her head, over and over. "Leave me alone! I have no interest in wanting to know who you are! So leave me alone! Please!" Maybe they weren't her exact words, but ther were scolding enough. She felt a wave of uncomfort. She usualy never did anything like that. And she did it to someone she didn't even know. And it was a boy, too! She hadn't had a male friend in a long time. She thought for a moment and she decided maybe she shoule try to be friends with one of these people. Maybe with Stan, or Zero, or maybe the group of new boys they just met. And she knew she'd have to say sorry to Zigzag. She had been really rude. Or maybe...maybe she wouldn't do anything. She seemed to get more attention that way. She decided she would't say anything.
The next morning, they all filed toward the Wreck Hall for routine. They, once again, showed the new kids what to do(But Mr. Cox picked a different campr than Tomcat or Vixen!). After they all did that stuff, Mr. Cox blew a high-toned whistle. "Okay, I have an anouncment to make," he said. "You will all be tested. Tested on how you can handle fear. Terror. Horror. And, after seeing what happened yesterday between a new camper and a rather silent local--" he glanced at Zigzag then to Vixen--"I pretty sure you all will be as scared as a kitten is od water. Good luck, I guess. Especially to the newbies," he added. After Mr. Cox's anouncments, they all went out to dig on the Holy Plain. As they dug in thier assigned holes, Stan, who was next to Vixen, happened to glance over. He saw, on her right hand, a pretty bad burn. He couldn't think of anything she could've gotten burnt by. He was snapped out of thought by a voice calling, "Loopy!" It was Vee. He wondered who Loopy was. Then he remembered. Brenda had told him while they were sneaking food that Loopy was her nickname. Stan forgot everyone but Vixen had one. Brenda, or Loopy, looked up from digging. "huh? What do u want, Vee?" she said. Vee motioned for her to go over to her. Loopy sighed and dropped her shovel and went over to Vee. Stan went back to digging. Digging on Stan's opposite side was Queen. Next to Queen was Magnet. On Vixen's opposite side was Zigzag, who was next to Rainy, who was next to X-ray. Stan looked back at Vee(next to Magnet), who was whipsering with Loopy. He saw Loopy point to him. He wondered what she was saying. She was probebly telling Vee he was a complete idiot. That's what he thought. Bout twenty minutes from when they started, almost simaltanously, Zero, Vee, and Vixen all said 'Ow!" and dropped thier shovels. Vee's right hand was bleeding again. Vixen saw blood seep from her left hand. Both of Zero's hands were bleeding. Zero still was shaken by that, so he hastily wiped his hands on hsi pants, let them bleed, wiped them, let them bleed, and wiped them again. vixen spit on her hand and then wiped it on the inside of her uniform skirt pocket. Vee waved her hand in the air, whinig because it wouldn't stop. Sometimes she was stupid like that. Then it stopped.
About two hours later, the holes were either five feet deep or finished. Zero had finished about an hour before, but he dawdled on the Holy Plain, waiting for someone he knew to get done so he could talk to someone. He walked between Zigzag, who was almost done, and Vixen's hole. Her shovel was still sticking out of it. Zero thought that was strange, on account of when he had accidently left his shovel in the hole, Vixen had scolded him and told him to put it away. So why would she leave hers out? She went to the edge of the hole and looked inside. He saw what he didn't want to. Vixen was sitting on the bottom of the dirty hole, her head leaning on her shoulder, her eyes closed, and she was sorta red. Zero jumped in the hole and, despite he had kncoked the shove's hard shaft on his head, he recovered and tried to shake Vixen awake. She didn't do anything. "Vixen. Vixen, get up," he said. She twitched. Then her eyes opened. She was slow at first, but when she saw someone holding her by the shoulders and shaking her, she jumped in surprise and screamed shortly. "Get away, get away!" she ordered, standing up and pushing Zero. He tripped on the shovel and fell backward. "What do you think you were doing?" spat Vixen. "You were unconcious!" said Zero. "So? Leave me that way!" she said. "The sun woulda cooked u," said Zero. "Well, next time send a conselour to help me. I don't like people I don't know," she said. "If you would give people a chance, and maybe talk to them, you wouldn't not know them anymore!" said Zero. Vixen felt a wave of anger and confusion hit her suddenly. What did this kid know about not having friends? Looked like he had plenty of friends! He knew the whole new bus load of boys! What did he know about what she'd been through? She didn't have a mother, a father, and she slept in a phone booth for eight nights streight. She was mad. MAd that he could act like he understood and wanna help her and get to know her. Before she knew what she was doing, She had raised her left hand high above her. She broguht it down toward Zero's head and made contact with a sickening sound. He had just stood uo, but the imapct sent him down again. Vixne stood there in horror. She didnt know why she had just hit him. Zigzag had heard a strange sound from the hole next to his. He had finished, so he'd see what it was. He remembered Zero had jumped in it. Zero was on the ground, and fading in and out of conciousness. Vixen didn't know she hit that hard. But then again, her anger had always boosted her stregth enough so she could probebly knock out Stone Cold with one smack. Zero blinked his watering eyes a couple times to get focus. Then he was able to stand. He just looked at her. Vixen got the chills. his eyes were dark, expanding, and penetrating. They made her feel guilty. Which made her feel hurt. Which made her feel angry. She raised her ahnd for another attack. Zero slightly recoiled adn put his hands up, waiting for the hit. But it never came. He put his hands down and looked up. Vixen never managed to get near him. Zigzag was standing behind her, and he had grabbed her hand before she brought it down. "Hey! Lemme go!" she said. She stomped down hard on Zigzag's foot. he yelped and let go. She dropped her hand to her side. She glared at Zero, who was cowering, then she glared at Zigzag. Then she left. Zero caught a glance at her left hand. Dried blood was smeared on it. He felt his head to make sure she hadn't made him bleed, but it had definatly come from her hand. But there was no cut. It was just like what happened to him.
Mr. Terrance walked into the Root Water cabin. Blacky was trying to blow a bigger bubble-gum bubble than Rainy, Vee was keeping herself busy by using a ruler to measure anything she could find(so far, she had measured the lenght of X-ray's glasses, the length of the ladder on the bed, she tried to measure the wall, and she measured the length of Queen's shoe). Zero was having a staring contest with both Loopy and Stan, Magnet was helping Vee measure stuff. Vixen was just sitting there on her top bunk, staring blankly off into space with glazed eyes and a 'duh' expression. Zigzag was sleeping. "Attention please," he said. No one listened. And Zigzag didn't wake up. "I said, ATTENTION!" boomed Mr. Terrance. Blacky and Rainy's bubbles popped all over thier faces. Magnet and Vee stopped measuring. Zero, Loopy, and Stan blinked. Vixen snapped back into reality. Zigzag flinched and squinted his sleepy eyes. "All of you will be sent to a place in the woods. You will stay close. Your counselor Miss Brandy and I will lead you to a big, big lake. Then, you will proceed to folow our instructions. Be ready in an hour and meet us and the other campers on the Holy Plain. See you then," he said, then he turned and left the cabin. As soon as he was out of range, they all groaned in annoyance and things like 'do we have to?' and 'this sucks' could be heard. "Come on," said Loopy. She blinked hard a few times. Her eyes felt like rubber. They had been staring for a long time. "Fine," said Blacky. "I wasn't talkin to you! You are a sicko perv, you know that?!" said Loopy. "And proud of it!" he said. "Uck," said Loopy and Vee as one. Vixen rubbed her head. She was really deep in thought. She shrugged and jumped down off her bunk. She wasn't watching where she was walking, and she nearly ran into Zero. "Sorry," she said flatly. Then she realized who it was. She gave him a sharp glare at first, then turned the other way.
She crawled onto Vee's bunk and looked in her covers for something. She couldn't find it. She looked up and saw that Zigzag had woke up, but then fell back to sleep again. He was in the bunk next to hers, but he was on top. She picked up Vee's baseball and climbed the ladder to her bunk. Then she threw the ball at him. It hit him in the back of his head. He yawned and turned over. "Whothrewthat?" he slurred. "idiot," mumbled Vixen. Zigzag sat up and hit his head on the low ceiling and then he fell back onto his pillow. Vixen snickered at his stupidity. "Ouch," he said, though he had little enthusiasm, because he said it in a yawn. Vixen climbed down the ladder this time. She didn't wanna land on anyone. Rainy looked at Zigzag. She hated slackers. There wasn't no way she was lettin him doze off again. If they were gonna go 2 the lake in the woods, he was too. She picked up her pillow and took an Evian(rich people water!) water bottle from under it. The bunks were so close she could crawl from hers to the one next to hers, and so on. She crawled to his and unscrewed the bottle cap. She took one last sip and swallowed. Then she looked at the bottle, shrugged, and threw the rest of the water on him. he shot bolt upright, smacked his head on hers(she had been hovering over him, waiting for the reaction) with a sickening 'thunk' sound, and both of them fell back. Even though it was a co-ed cabin, the obviously had seperate dressing rooms. They were aloud to wear whatever thay had that day. Queen came out wearing a shiny blue T-shirt with red shorts. She wore a red and black French scarf around her neck(i have one just like it), and black Nike sandles. And lets not forget her shades. her hair was pulled back. Vee came out wearing a viser hat that was on backwards and upside down, sunglasses, a white Tee and black shorts. Vixen wore a really confusing T-shirt. It had rows of verticle black lines and a big black hypno wheel cirlce in the middle. And the empty spaces were white. She wore black shorts. Loopy wore a red Tee and blue jean shorts. the boys just wore boy stuff, and so did Rainy. Rainy was a tomboy.
They all met the other cabins on the Holy Plain. The former D-Tent boys all met up for the time they could. Vixen and Vee stood together with Loopy. Vixen glanced over toward the D-Tent boys. She could see that Zigzag was telling them that she had hit him with a baseball. She turned her head, then looked back at them. She saw Zigzag coming toward them, followed by X-ray. "Oh man," she groaned. "What?" said Vee. She jabbed her thumb toward the two boys. "So? What's so bad about them?" said Vee. "uck," said Vixen. Vixen was turned to Vee, acting like she didn't see them coming. Zigzag walked up behind her, glanced at her, took one step forward, then suddenly turned around sharply and tried to walk away, but X-ray grabbed him by the shoulders. He shook him vigorously, mouthed something to him, turned him back around, then pushed him into Vixen. Vixen stumbled, but regained her balance. She turned around. "What do u want?" said she spat. "I uh..." he looked behind him. Then he looked back. "Okay, listen. Vixen, I was only trying to be nice when I met you. I didn't mean to--" he was cut off by Mr. Terrance coming out onto the Holy Plain. A black woman(the actress who plays Whitney Russel on Passions) followed behind him. "Okay! You will each be paired in twos. But only with people from your cabins. Okay! We will go through the Root Water cabin first," said Mr. Terrance. He looked at his clip board and crossed names off as he called them. "Blacky, you will be paired with...your sister, Rainy." "Of course," said Rainy flatly. Her and Blacky stood off to the side together where Mr. Terrance motioned for them to go. "Okay. Vee, you will be paired with...Magnet," he said. "Okay," she said. She left Loopy and stood off to the side with Magnet. "Loopy, you will be with Stan." "yay!" Loopy said to herself. Stan shrugged and wlked over to the side with loopy. "Zero, you will be with Queen." They walked to the side without saying anything. "X-ray, you will be with Mayflower," he said. X-ray looked around. He didn't know a Mayflower. A pretty blonde stepped up out of a crowd of popular-looking bad girls. He and Mayflower went off to the side. "And last but not least, Vixen you will be with...Zigzag." "Great," said Vixen flatly. Zigzag looked at the ground. He knew Vixen didn't wanna be his partner. But maybe this could be his chance to say sorry and then maybe they could be friends. It had been a long time since he had a female friend. "Okay, all of you who have been paired already, follow Miss Brandy into the forest. The rest of you will follow me in a moment." "Come on," snapped Vixen. She stomped past Zigzag and followed Miss Brandy.
They all went into the forest. It was dark and smelly. Toward the middle of the forest, they came upon a humongous lake. Miss Brandy stood on the edge of it and faced the group of the Root Water cabin. "Hello. My name is Miss Brandy. Today I will be testing you. I will test you will ro survive, you wits, your abilities, and your willingness to put up with your partner. This won't be like one of those little school trips. I will be spliting you all up. I will tie a blindfold around each of your eyes. I will take each pair wand while the rest of u wait here, i will lead them deeper into the forest. I will then leave u to venge for yourselves. But, due to highly advanced equpment, I can make sur you won't be harmed. And I will know where u r. if u get to far away, i will track u down and bring u back. Your goal is to make it back to the lake before sun down. Whovere succeeds will receive an entire week off from digging and will get extra food, too." Miss Brandy walked back and forth in front of the campers. She then stopped in front of Stan and Loopy. "You two. You will be the first to be led astray." Loopy and Stan exchanged glances of worry. Miss Brandy took a bandana out of her pocket. She pushed Stan and Loopy close together and tied it around both of thier heads at once. Thier eyes were sheilded from outside life. She took Stan's hand and told him to hold Loopy's just in case the bandana came off. She didn't want them to get seperated. "All of you, wait here. if any one of you thinks about leaving, I'll make sure you get triple digging duty," she warned. Then she led Loopy and Stan away. "I'm thinkin' about it!" said Blacky when she was out of earshot range. Vixen looked over at her sister. She and Magnet were comapring who stole better things, trying to top each other. Zero was just standing there, allowing himself to be verbaly abused by Queen. She was saying something about them not being in the same social ranking and she hated being seen with him. But out of everyone who was dissapointed with thier partner, Vixen was the most pissed off. She knew she sould try to be nice, but she just didn't like Zigzag. She knew he just wanted to be friends. But she wasn't used to having friends. Her only friend for a while was just a bracelet and necklace set. There was a silver chain on each. With a pure gold charm on each. The charms were praying hands. Like the kinds u see on pins. But these ones were passed down in her family fom a hundred and ten years ago and farther. They belonged to her many great grandfather(2 many greats to mention). He was royalty. And so were the charms. But she had to sell them. So that she could live. You'll hear more about that later. She sat in the springy, moist grass in front of the lake. She peered at her reflection. She saw Zigzag come up from behind her. She didn't care. Let him stand there. She had nothing to say to him. She was thinking of her life in the past. When she was small and life was good. Memories of her and her twin sister flooded her mind. "Hi Vixen," said Zigzag. She didn't answer him. He didn't care. "Look, Vixen, I am sorry. Really. I didn't know that poppies would hurt you. And I didn't mean to drop one on you. I just-- " "Could ya shut up!?" shouted Vixen, startling Zigzag. Everyone arounf them got quiet. "Look! I don't like you! I don't care what your first intentons were! i don't care what they are now! And after this test, I honestly never wanna talk to you again! Do you get me!? Or must I repeat it once more to get it through that thick head of yours!?! Do you understand me, I am asking!?" Her face was reddened with anger and sorrow from her thoughts. She huffed and puffed in rage. Zigzag's eyes were huge and horrified, then they were filled with hurt. He looked at the ground. "Yeah," he said, sounding rejected. "I get it." He turned and walked away, hurt. The talking resumed after a moment. Now, the anger and sorrow dissolved. They turned into guilt. She had lunged and killed Zigzag's good intentions and spirit. Why the heck was she like this? X-ray told Mayflower he'de be right back and went over to where Zizag was leaning on a tree. "Hey man," he said. "Hey," said Zigzag. "I tried to be nice. It didn't work. All becasue of stupid poppies!" he said. "Okay, it isn't the little orange flower's fault," said X-ray. "I know. I'm not blaming the poppies," he said. I just don't get along with her. It's like she wants to just be isolated from everyone all the time." X-ray thought a moment. "Why do you care what this girl thinks anyway? She's just some other stupid person. She's probeblt in here for stealing hair products and make-up," he said. Then it hit him. "Oh, I c what's goin' on here," he said with a slight smirk. "Huh? What do you mean?" said Zigzag. "U know exactly what I mean," he said. "Know, it isn't like that--" "Well then what is it?" he said. Zigzag blinked. "Well, i dunno. But it isn't that," he added quickly, seeing X-ray's expression. "Mmm-Hmm," said X-ray, not believing him. "I am serious!" said Zigzag, turning red. He was becoming irritated. "Prove it, lover boy," said X-ray. "Fine! I won't be nice to her any more! I'll leave her alone! After this test, I will ignore her, and her me." Miss Brandy came back without Stan and Loopy. "I just remembered one thing," she said brightly. "When you each return to the lake and myself, you must give me a report. You will tell me if your partner was one: calm. Two: good team helper. Three: Not horrified. And four: Not klutzy. If your partnr says you fail these, then you will be sentanced to kitchen duty, and digging six holes for one day with no breaks. Have fun!" she said with a smile. She then ordered them to return to thier partner if they had seperated. Zigzag reluctantly walked to Vixen, and X-ray rejoined Mayflower. She walked back and forth the way she had done the first time. Then she stopped in front of them and pointed to Vixen and Zigzag. "You two. Come." she took the blindfold she used for Stan and Loopy and used it on them. She then took Vixen's hand and suggested she take Zigzag's. But she refused. He would have refused her, too.
When Zigzag and Vixen's eyes once again seen the dim light of day in the damp woods, they were in an unfamiliar place. "Where are we?" said Vixen. "If I told you, there wouldn't be a point to all this, would there?" said Miss Brandy. "Now, be back at the lake before or at sun down. If you aren't back, I'll come get you. I'll know where you are all the time. I just can't see your actions." Miss Brandy bid them goodluck, handed them one canteen and one Evian(rich peeple water again!) and left. "Now what do we do?" said Zigzag. "I'm not sure. But it looks really confusing in here," said Vixen. She sounded worried. "This is not going to be easy," said Zigzag, sounding shaky. ____________________________________________________________________________ __________
____________________________________________________________________________ __________
6. Fear Is Not A Factor For Us(focuses mainly on a mystic occurance)
They had been trying to get back to the lake for a good hour. Zigzag and Vixen hadn't spoken since Miss Brandy left them alone together. Meanwhile, back at the campsite, Miss Brandy, Mr. Cox, Mr. Terrance and the woman who followed him around were all in the counselor's cabin. Miss Brandy and Mr. Terrance were controling the equipment. Mr. Cox was a little fidgety. "We'll get caught. There's gonna be an inestigation, Jo," he said to the woman. "No there won't, Perry!(he has the same name as the Scrubs Dr. Cox) I've made sure of that," she said. "Jo Anne!" said Miss Brandy suddenly. "Come here. Is this right?" she said. Jo Anne(Karen) walked over to the computer screen. "Is what right, Evet?" asked Jo Anne. Evet pointed to the screen. "Is it right? Is it okay that I paired them up with different people than each other?" she said. "Like, I paired Hector with Tammy. And I paired Veronica with Jose`. And I paired the most crucial one, Vixen, with Ricky. Is that okay?" she asked. Jo Anne shrugged. "I don't see why not. We'll just have to--did u say Vixen was the most crucial? No. No, no, no, no, no, no. They are all crucail. Together, the three of them can create a force more powerful than any technology you can make. They can destroy our plans to get to what we need before we can get to it. Under this very peice of land lies a legendary portal. A supernatural door to another realm. A realm that can lead to the past, the future, then back to the present again. Legend also says that is also a doorway between our world and the spirit one. Heaven. It's the thin line between life and death. If we open it, we can go into the past and take over. We can rule. But the Zeroni family powers can demolish our hopes. So, we must get rid of them." "And the kids they are partnered with? Won't they become suspicious that three of thier friends, two are twins, die all at the same time?" asked Mr. Cox. "No," she said. "Because we'll just kill them, too. So, the death toll will be for Queen Tammy, Magnet Jose`, Zigzag Ricky, Vee Veronica, Vixen, and Zero Hector Zeroni."
Vixen felt light headed and dizzy. She had been thinking hard and the heat was making her sick. She grabbed Zigzag's arm, half to get his attention, half to support her from falling over. "I gotta sit down." She knew she had sun poisoning. She'd had it for a while now. And it was kicking in again. "Try to keep going. I don't wanna day of six holes," said Zigzag, not showing any scrap of consideration for Vixen's condition. He was sick of being nice to her just so he could be burned. "No, Zigzag, I can't," she said. He heard that her voice sounded panty, exhausted, and out of breath. He didn't beleive she was really sick. But when he didn't hear rustling behind him, he turned around to see where she was. He gasped and dropped to the ground beside her. Vixen was on her knees, her head hung over, and her arms hanging. "Vixen, are you okay?" he said. She looked up at him. Her face was sweaty and red. She was really tired. "Come on. Get up," said Zigzag. He helped her up. "Can you walk at all?" She nodded, though she was unsure. They started walking again, then Zigzag heard a soft sigh and a thud behind him.
"Look here!" said Evet. "Hm?" Jo Anne looked over Evet's shoulder at the screen. "Vixen's passed out. But...why?" she asked. "She has an illness(if u ever seen Digimon, the first season, it's like what happened to Kari when they were lookin for the Dark Masters. But its a little different). Being in the sun too long hurts her. I've been trying to finish her off by making her dig for kids who were still asleep, eating, or sick," said Mr. Terrance. "But, if she dies like that, what about Ricky? Don't you think he'd tell someone when he gets out?" said Mr. Cox. "No. He'll die the same way. We just gotta...turn up the heat," said Jo Anne. She reached over to a knob that was flat on tip, like a stereo volume. She turned it from 'hot' to 'sizzling.'
"Ow! I think I broke my nail!" cried Queen. "Ack! I'm bleeding now! Do you have a band-aid?" she asked. "It isn't like I carry them around with me," said Zero. "Your cold, man," said Queen, sucking her finger. "I wish I were," he said. "I know. It is so frickin' hot in this forest," said Queen. Zero looked upward. he couldn't see the sky. The tree tops were so bushy, the sun and sky were completely blocked out. "Zero?" Queen turned around to see him looking at the sky. "What the heck are you doin'?" she said. "Do you see that?" he said. "See what?" He pointed to a tree top. Queen looked at where he was pointing. "I don't see nothin'," she said. "There. That little blinking red dot," said Zero. "Oh crap!" said Evet. "That Hector kid spotted the camera!" "Hide it!" said Mr. Terrance. The camera sucked into the tree's leaves. "It's gone now," said Zero. "I didn't see it to begin with," said Queen. "Maybe the heat is makin u delirious," she suggested. Zero shut his eyes tight then opened them again, looking for the blinking dot. "Maybe," he said. Queen took a drink from the Evian. She swallowed and turned back to him. "Zero? Zero, are you okay?" He was holding his head and he was teetering back and forth slightly. "I'm fine," he lied. He felt horrible. "Well, come on. We gotta get to the lake before sun down," said Queen. Zero's eyes went out of focus. He saw two of Queen. He tried to walk forward, and he stumbled, but he caught his balance. Then he heard it. "AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!" "Queen!" he didn't care if he couldn't see what he was doing. He just knew he couldn't see Queen any more and the forest around him was spinning insanly. He bolted toward the direction of Queen's shriek. When he stumbled to where she was, she was standing in horror, looking at the ground. "Queen! Are you hurt? Are you okay?" he said, panting and trying to regain his vision. "No. I'm fine. A snake just slithered across my foot. And I'm wearin sandles, so i touched it!" Zero sighed. He just risked running head-on into a tree to hear Queen complain some more. "Zero, are you okay? Why do you keep blinking?" asked Queen. "I can't see. I san't see anything!" said Zero. "I'm blind!!!" "Blind?" said Queen. "Zero, watch out!" "How can I watch? I'm blind!!!" He tried to go forward and he ran into Queen, and they fell over. "Could ya get off me?" said Queen. "Queen?" "Yes, Zero?" "I think I'm blind," he said. She sighed heavily and annoyed. Zero stood up. All he could see was a faint greenish blur. "Follow me- -oops. Here, I got an idea," said Queen. She picked up a vine and handed Zero the end of it. "Just go where the vine leady you. I'll guide you." "Okay, fine. But don't leave me stranded somewhere," he said.
"Great. Now he can't see. And Tammy's leadin him to safety! Good job of exterminating Hector," said Evet to Jo Anne. "Don't you talk to me like that! And besides, I think we got one down. It looks like Veronica is going crazy."
Magnet and Vee were walking through a muddy area. He was becoming rather annoyed because of Vee. She was walking behind him, singing at the top of her lungs. "LOSE YOURSELF IN THE MUSIC, THE MOMENT, U OWN IT, U BETTER NEVER LET IT GO! THIS IS UR ONE SHOT, SO DON'T MISS--" "Vee!!! Shut up!" he snapped. "Blah blah blah. That's all i hear comin from u," she said. Well, actualy, she slurred it. She sounded drunk. "Are you on some kind of medication?" he said. "Look, Magnet! FLOWERS!" Vee dropped to her knees and made a splat sound in the mud. She picked up a purple flower and sniffed it. "Let's go find more flowers!" she said dazedly. "How about no!" said Magnet. "Yes!" she barked. "No," he said stubbornly. She stood up. "Yeeeeeesss," she said slowly. "Noooooo," he said slowly. He turned around and said, "So there." Vee hung her head then, out of no where, socked him in the back of his head. He fell back ward on the ground, and when his vision came into focus, he saw Vee. She was standing over him with a stern look. "Yes. So there," she said as if to say "discussion over. We are gettin more flowers."
"Ow. Ow. Ow! Queen!" "Sorry!" Queen kept leading Zero into trees. He wasn't sure if she was doing it on purpose or if it was really an accident. He voted for the first one. "Come on, Zero," she said. "Hey, did u forget? I'm blind!" "Temporarily! Don't you forget that!" she spat. They walked for about two hours. Then Zero felt something icy that went to the top of his socks. "What are we standing in?" he said. "Oh, just some muddy water. Don't worry, though. It doesn't look that deep." "Oh, thanks for those assuring words, Queen," said Zero. "No prob," she said, missing the sarcasm. Then, the water rose up to thier waists. "I thought you said it wasn't very deep," said Zero. "I didn't think it was this deep," she said. Suddenlt, Zero jerked to the side and fell over. His vision returned in a second flat. But he was overwhelmed with a sharp pain. It ran down through his head into his lungs and stabbed at his heart. He tried to breath, but no air came. he was suffocating. "Zero!" Queen had taken a wrong step and had plunged under extremely deep water. The reason Zero couldn't get air is cuz when he fell, he fell into water and it covered his head and he couldn't get air. So, Zero couldn't help Queen cuz he wa 'drowning,' and Queen couldn't help Zero cuz she was drowning.
Vixen had regained conciousness and was now walking side by side with Zigzag. "hey, did you hear that?" he said. "Hear what?" they stopped and looked around. "Woah!" said Vixen. The trees around them became a dark, blood color. The leaves and the mud, and the grass did, too. Everything around them except a tiny flowing creek had turned blood colored. Zigzag looked at the creek. The fish in it were dark blood colored, but the water around them was a dark, royal blue. "Vixen, look at this," he said. when she didn't answer, he turned to her. "What in the world--" Vixen stood stiff, her arms out, and her eyes stern and glazed. She looked like she was in a trance. Her eyes glowed a lavender color.
"Vee? What is happening?" said Magnet. Vee stood the same way that Vixen did. She was all stiff and trance-like. Her eyes glowed an electric-blue color.
Zero somehow was able to breath. His pain vanished. He stood up slowly, his hair was dripping and wet. He spit out some water and blinked mud out of his dark eyes. When he opened his eyes, the were glowing a shiny bright red. "Tammy? Where are you?" he couldn't see her. He walked toward the water she had fallen under. It was about eight times as deep as Zero was tall. He somehow knew where the deep area started, and he stood exactly on the edge. He raised one hand over the water. Vixen held out one hand in front of her, over the stopped-in-time creek. Vee held her hand out over a muddy puddle and a colored red used-to- be fushia flower. Vee took a breath and spoke in a mono-tone voice. "Help the helpless with just one, but the task is not yet done." Vixen spoke in the same eerie way. "Stop a tragedy with just two, we need just one more, but who?" Zero's red eyes flashed and he took a deep breath and released it. he focused all of his energy toward the deep pond. He then spoke in the same voice the other two did. "You need three to raise the dead, you'll know it because the colors you'll see will be blue and bloody red."
The little creek in front of Vixen bubbled. A mini-whirlpool spun and a blood colored fish rose up to her and like it was magnetic. On the fishes side was a deep cut. The fish had been dead. Now, it wriggled in the air, gasping in search of moisture. It was living now. The little flower that was in the mud followed an invisible line to Vee's hand. It had been squished under Magnet's shoe. Now it was propped up again in the air. It was living now. Zero squinted. Vixen and Vee had brought tiny things back to life. He was left to bring a girl to life. His hand rose higher, trying hard to bring her to the surface. A body rose from the water and the water washed off of it. It was Queen. Her ponytail hung along with her arms and legs. She was levitated by Zero away from the deep end and set down in water that wasn't even an inch deep.
The forest around them turned back to normal. Life began again. Birds chirped and flies buzzed. Zigzag stood staring at Vixen with wide eyes. She had just caused that. And she borught a dead thing back to life. her eyes cleared and returned to normal. She then turned to him. "That was scary," he said sounding shaken. "Wel," she said,"Fear is not a factor for me."
Vee returned to normal, and before the flower dropped, she grabbed it and sniffed it. "What...was that?" said Magnet. "I'm not sure. But it was cool," she said. "It was freaky," he said. "Well, freaky things and fear is not a factor for me."
Zero fell to his knees beside her. He shook her and she didn't wake up. he didn't know how he brought her up, why he had recited a strange poem, and what happened at all. But he just wanted to make sure it wasn't done in vain. Queen groaned lightly and opened her eyes. She blinked to get water out of them. She smiled when she saw Zero, then she coughed up water. She spit it on him. "Hm. Thank you for that," he said. She laughed. "I can't believe you swam under the water and saved me," she said. "Huh?" Queen didn't remember floating in thin air thanks to some magic force. "Oh, uh, yeah. well, I didn't want you to drown." She smiled. "Well, I see fear is not a factor for you. And it isn't for me, either." ____________________________________________________________________________ __________
Oooh! Cliff hanger! What do u think that was all about? Was it the forces of nature, was it the legendary Door of Realms power? Or was it the power that runs through the Zeroni family bloodline? And if it was, then how come Vixen and Vee went all trancey, too? Will Vixen acualy start to trust Zigzag in the next chapter? Will Queen stop bein prissy? Will a relationship develop between Stan and Loopy? Will I ever quit asking these stupid question!? Find out in the next double chapter! I don't think it'll be as long. Thatnx for readin my extremely long dubble-chappy! Buh-bye 4 now!-ZeroZeroni